Jackson exit opens door to Diego Costa in June

Jackson Martínez has thrown in the towel and left Atlético Madrid having received a juicy offer from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. The Colombian was well aware of the fact that he never lived up to expectations during his stint at Atlético and will relish the change of scene and the chance to revive his flagging fortunes.

Whilst every effort was made to persuade Jackson not to give up and to stay on at the Vicente Calderón, reminding him of the goalscoring prowess he has shown throughout his career, the financial package on the table made it impossible to hang on to the striker.

The player will be earning significantly more in China than he did in Madrid and the 'Rojiblancos' drove the hardest bargain they could after resigning themselves to letting their biggest signing of the summer go. Atlético paid 35 million euros for Martínez and have recouped an even larger fee - reported to be 42m - in return with a view to trying to bring Diego Costa back to Madrid in June, which is the dream of those in the back offices of the Calderón.